TAP – South Carolina Dance Company Offers Award Winning Tap Instruction

South Carolina Dance Company Has some of the Most Experienced Tap Instructors In the Lexington, SC and Greater Columbia, SC Area

Tap Dancing is a a specialty at South Carolina Dance Company. Owner and Artistic Director, Danyele Gardner, has been studying and dancing Classical Tap for 30 years, and has become one of the Greater Columbia SC area’s most established Tap instructors.

Danyele Gardner’s passion for this genre of dance makes her Tap classes some of the most popular classes at South Carolina Dance Company.

What is Tap Dancing?

Tap dancing is a style of American theatrical dance that is an amazing, energetic, and rhythmic form of dance which requires a great deal of physical fitness and stamina.  Tap dancers wear special shoes equipped with metal taps commonly known as “Tap Shoes.” Tap dancers use their feet like a drummer uses their hands to harmonically create sounds that “tap” the hard surface of the dance floor.  The most common style of Tap is called “Classical Tap.”

Classical Tap dancers or “Tappers” combine fluid upper body movements that mix Jazz and Ballet techniques into the dance routines, but the lower body’s beat producing footwork is the focal point of  Classic Tap dancing.  However, Tap has gained in popularity and has evolved as cultures from around the world have created their own forms of tap dancing. These other variations of tap are commonly known as “hoof” (Irish tap such as the “Riverdance”) and “clog” (American folk-style tap).

Photo: All American Imaging

South Carolina Dance Company Specializes in the Proper Training of Tap Dancing

Because Tap Dancing is so demanding on the body, Tap Classes at South Carolina Dance Company are structured to help the students learn proper Tap technique.  SCDC classes last about an hour and begin with warm up drills that allow the muscles, legs, and feet to stretch in preparation for the vigorous and intense steps Tap dancing requires.

The next portion of a  SCDC tap class is devoted to learning Tap sequences or steps.  The use of combination exercises helps our students to become proficient in this dance style.  SCDC Combination exercises are fun, but are aerobic in nature and can be complex to master. However, Tap dancing, once mastered, becomes an essential part of a proper dance education, and it is one of the best forms of dance to help a dancer gain muscle control in their legs and feet.